Saher Zeidan (36) of Bossier City was found guilty after a trial by Bossier Parish District Judge E. Charles Jacobs of Simple Battery. The defendant was then sentenced to the maximum six months in jail for hitting a female customer of his tire shop in the face. The victim, an African-American female, testified that in July 2017 she went to Zeidan’s tire shop in Haughton to purchase two truck tires. When the customer returned to pick up the tires which had been mounted on her rims, she told Zeidan that the tires were not the ones she had ordered and that she would not pay for the wrong tires. Zeidan became enraged and yelled racial slurs at the customer, grabbed her to keep her from leaving the business, then hit her in the face. The entire incident was witnessed by the customer’s elderly mother who also testified at trial and confirmed the victim’s account. The defendant initially claimed that he had video surveillance of the incident that proved his innocence but at trial, he admitted that he did not have any such video.
Zeidan chose to represent himself on the misdemeanor charge. Assistant District Attorney Richard Ray prosecuted the case for the Bossier Parish District Attorney’s Office. “No one should treat a customer the way this guy treated both these ladies” commented Ray “I was appalled and felt it was appropriate to ask for the maximum amount of jail time based on the verbal and physical abuse by the defendant. I was glad Judge Jacobs imposed the maximum penalty” said Ray.